Coil handling apparatus



Jan. 20, 1970 J. R. ADAIR 7 3,490,628

' COIL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1966 l n w n [-7 Q as m W I m N 97 l w 2 m v -1- 5 N m a IO '1 1 :0 I Q H n INVENTOR. JAMES R. ADAIR Has TTORNEY United States Patent C U.S. Cl. 214130 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure relates to equipment for handling coils of metallic strip as they are brought to a rolling mill. The handling equipment comprises a pivotal arm which includes a platform movable so as to position a coil brought to the platform relative to the center of the rolling mill.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on a British provisional application No. 45,137/65 filed Oct. 25, 1965, for which application the applicant is claiming a right of priority pursuant to 35 USC. 119 of the patent act.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for handling coils of metallic strip and, more particularly, to an apparatus employed to position coils of strip from one elevation to another, which also has the facility to center the coils relative to a given reference point.

It is presently well known in handling and transferring coils of metallic strip material to employ a coil lowering device, sometimes referred to as a coil lowerator. In this arrangement the coils to be presented to a processing unit, such as a rolling mill or strip processing line, are first placed on a conveyor which is located above the elevation at which the coils must be ultimately presented for feeding into the mill or line. At the end of the conveyor the coils are received by the lowerator. In this arrangement there has been no convenient way to center the coils should the coils be 01f center relative to the mill or line. While allowances can be made for this oif center condition in non-automated equipment, it is mandatory in installations designed to automatically handle coils in an automated sequence that all coils be centered.

Moreover, in the automatic handling of such coils it is highly desirable to provide a means for measuring the varying widths of the coils. From this information, other associated equipment can be adjusted pursuant to the widths of the coils preparatory to receiving them.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a lowerator having means to center the coils received thereby relative to a given reference point.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide in combination with a coil conveyor adapted to advance coils to the entry end of a rolling mill or processing line a coil lowerator having a laterally adjustable coil supporting platen and means for automatically determining the position of the coil relative to a fixed reference point and for producing an error signal representative of any deviation from this reference point and means controlled by said signal adapted to automatically adjust the platen and, hence, the coil to the desired position.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a conveyor for transferring coils to be processed in a rolling mill, a coil supporting platen arranged to receive a coil discharged from said conveyor, means for adjusting the lateral position of said platen and, hence, a coil supported thereby, means associated with said platen for positioning it into a coil discharge position for delivering a coil to said rolling mill.

The above embodiment of the present invention may include a pair of opposed probes associated with the coil conveyor, means connected to said probes for causing them to contact opposed sides of a coil, signal generating means associated with said probes for deriving a signal representative of the width and position of the coil relative to a fixed reference line, said signal being employed to laterally position the coil automatically relative to the reference line and the width information being employed to adjust the associated equipment, such as strip guides, etc.

These objects as well as others will be more fully understood when the following description is read in light of the accompanying drawing of which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of one form of apparatus embodying the present invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along lines lIII of FIGURE 1.

With reference to the drawing and, particularly, FIG- URE 1, there is illustrated a number of coils C of strip which are transferable in a direction indicated by an arrow to the entry end of a rolling mill, not shown, by a driven conveyor 10 which is spaced some distance away from the.

mill. The conveyor 10 includes a sprocket 11 around which there rotates in an usual fashion, chains 12, only one of which is shown, to where there are secured a plurality of coil saddles 13 for movement therewith. At the delivery end of the conveyor the coils are directly discharged onto a coil lowering device 14 which also serves as a centering and positioning apparatus.

This device includes a pair of pivotally mounted arms 15 that are secured at one end by a pivot shaft 16 to suitably arranged support structure. The other ends of the arms 15 are secured to a common plate that is connected to the rod end of a Vertically arranged piston cylinder assembly 17 which is employed to lower the coil lowering device 14 from a coil receiving position to a coil discharge position, the latter position being shown in phantom in FIGURE 1.

As shown in FIGURES l and 2, each of the arms 15 is provided with upwardly arranged projections 18- formed with bores 19 into which there is received guide rods 21. Slidably positioned on the rods 21 are a pair of spaced, vertically arranged plates 22 that are secured together at their lower surfaces by a bracket 23 to which in turn there is connected a piston cylinder assembly 24. Secured to the upper surface of the plates 22 is a concave-shaped coil supporting platen 25 arranged to receive a coil from the conveyor 10 and discharge it onto a pair of rolls 26 and 27 that form part of the entry end coil feeding equipment. It will be appreciated that operation of the piston cylinder assembly 24 will horizontally shift the plates 22 on the rods 21 and, hence, the platen 25 will be positioned in a lateral direction.

It is to be pointed out that during the time between successive centering of coils, it is advantageous to relocate the platen 25 into a predetermined central position prior to receiving the next coil. This is accomplished according to the present invention, and as shown in FIGURE 2, by providing two cooperating limit switches 28 and 29 which are of a form well known in the art. The actuating arm of each limit switch is positioned in a recess 31 formed in the bracket 23. When the location of the bracket 23 corresponds to the desired central position of the platen, the limit switches 28 and 29 will not be actuated. Any deviation from this central position will be detected by one of the limit switches, which being tied in with the piston cyiinder assembly 24, will effect operation thereof in the desired direction.

According to the present invention there is provided means for determining the width of each coil and its poposition relative to a fixed reference point, such as, the horizontal center line of the mill. With particular reference now to this means and FIGURES 1 and 2, there is illustrated two identical coil probing devices 32 and 33 arranged on either side of a coil supported on the platen 25. Each of the probing devices includes a coil probing arm 34 connected to a guide rod 35 which is slidably received in a frame 36 that is, in turn, mounted on a base 37. Each coil probing arm 34 is connected to a piston cylinder assembly 38 for positioning the arm 34 towards and away from the vertical edge of the coil. The displacements of the probing arms are detected and measured by electrical impulse counters 39 and by transmitters 41, each set being tied together mechanically by a shaft having a gear not shown, the gear meshing with gear teeth formed on the guide rod 35.

The pulse counters are designed to determine the relative position of the coil with respect to the center of the mill, or some other fixed reference point. This is accomplished by employing a control 44 that receives electrical signals of different magnitude from each of the counters 39 of the probing devices 32 and 33. These signals are compared to derive a corrective error signal employed to actuate the piston cylinder assembly 24 in the desired direction until the signals from each pulse counter are equal.

The width of each coil is obtained by employing a control 45 which receives an electrical signal from each transmitter 41. These signals represent the distance each probe arm 34 has been displaced from a fixed retracted position to the center of the device 14 in order to contact the coil. By adding these signals together and then subtracting the sum from a signal representing the total distance between the original retracted position of each probe, an electrical signal 46 representing the width of the coil is provided. This signal may be employed to allow for the automatic positioning of equipment employed to assist in handling the strip, such as the side guards of the coil uncoiler or the side guides of the rolling mill. It will be appreciated that the various elements of the system are well known in the art so that further comment on them is deemed unnecessary.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for handling and transferring coils of strip-like material from a higher elevation to a lower elevation comprising:

a swingable frame arranged so that a portion thereof moves between the two elevations;

a mounting means for said frame adapted to pivotally support the frame;

a coil platform carried by said frame adapted to receive a coil delivered to said frame when in the higher elevational position and discharge a coil when the frame is in the lower elevational position;

guide means in said frame for allowing transverse movement of the platform relative to said frames;

means for effecting transverse movement of said platform;

means for producing a signal representative of the amount of off-centered condition between the center of a coil and a given data reference point, and

control means receiving said signal and effecting operation of said means for moving said platform to center a coil relative to said data reference point.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said signal producing means includes a coil off-center detecting means arranged to engage a portion of a coil supported by said platform; and

means for bringing the detecting means into engagement with a portion of the coil.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, including means for measuring the displacement of the detecting means from a predetermined retracted position to the coilengaging position and producing a signal proportional thereto.

4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, including a pair of coil engaging means carried by and movable relative to said frame;

means for causing the coil engaging means to engage the coil;

separate means for each coil engaging means for measuring from a given reference point and producing a signal representative of the relative degree of movement of said coil engaging means when caused to engage a coil;

said control means receiving said signals and comparparing them in a manner to produce said signal representing the amount of the off centered condition of a coil; and

means associated with said means for transversely moving the platform for receiving said last signal and effecting movement of the platform to correct for the coil off-center condition of the coil.

5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said mounting means comprises a shaft arranged parallel to the axes of the coils being handled and transferred;

said frame comprising a pair of parallel arms rotatably carried by said shaft;

power means connected to at least one of said arms for raising and lowering the arms; and

said means for effecting transverse movement of said platform being carried by said arms.

6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, including means for engaging at least one of the sides of the coil supported by said platform;

means for moving said coil engaging means from a predetermined retracted position to the coil engaging position; and

means for determining the degree of movement of said coil engaging means and producing a signal representing the actual width of the coil being engaged.

7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 6, including a pair of coil engaging means carried by and movable relative to said frame;

separate means for each coil engaging means for determining and producing separate signals representative of the degree of movement of the coil engaging means from a given reference point when caused to engage a coil; and

control means for receiving said signals and comparing them in a manner to produce a signal representative of the width of the coil being engaged.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,824,201 9/ 1931 Eisenberg.

1,870,224 8/1932 Berry.

2,092,540 9/1937 Talbot 214 2,848,124 8/1958 Angell et al. 2l491 2,964,203 12/1960 Ray et al. 214-130 3,228,541 1/1966 Crile et a1. 21416.4

ALBERT I. MAKAY, Primary Examiner US Cl. X.R. 

